Face-lift trafficker caught by Brazilian police

20/09/2015

Brazilian drug police have caught an alleged trafficker who once was in business with infamous kingpin Pablo Escobar and long evaded an international dragnet with the help of plastic surgery to change his features.

Mario Sergio Machado Nunes, nicknamed 'Goiano,' was a veteran trafficker who had been sought by Brazilian federal police and Interpol before his capture Thursday, the Sao Paulo police department said.

"Goiano dealt with other traffickers such as Pablo Escobar of Colombia and Ninja from Mexico. He underwent plastic surgery and used false documents," police said in a statement on Friday.

Brazilian news reports said Goiano was nabbed at a luxury weekend house in the coastal city of Guaruja.

In addition to his links with Escobar, who was killed in 1993 and is the subject of a popular new Netflix television series, Goiano stood out for a colourful plan to build a drug-running submarine.

O Globo newspaper reported on Saturday that the submarine was going to be built in Africa with Colombian engineers and - if the project had been completed - would then be used to help ship narcotics on the classic narco route from Latin America to Africa and from there to markets in Europe.

Interpol's wanted list, which still shows Nunes, says he is 59 years old.